U.S. patent number 4,065,262 [Application Number 05/738,051] was granted by the patent office on 1977-12-27 for filter and air freshener apparatus.
Invention is credited to Mitchell Petroff.
United States Patent |
4,065,262 |
Petroff |
December 27, 1977 |
Filter and air freshener apparatus
Abstract
An air filter and air freshener apparatus is disclosed for a
domestic air supply comprising an air filter element having a
plurality of containers positioned in the air filter for holding an
air freshener composition. The containers have removable caps so
that any one or a plurality of such containers may be opened to
control the quantity of air freshener composition released from the
combination air filter and air freshener apparatus when employed in
a domestic air supply system.
Inventors: |
Petroff; Mitchell (Troy,
MI) |
Family
ID: |
24966367 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/738,051 |
Filed: |
November 2, 1976 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
96/222; 239/289;
261/DIG.88; 239/58; 422/123 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01D
46/12 (20130101); Y10S 261/88 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B01D
46/12 (20060101); B01D 46/10 (20060101); A61L
009/01 (); B01D 050/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;21/53,74R,122 ;55/279
;239/34,53-60,289 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Scovronek; Joseph
Assistant Examiner: Phillips; Roger F.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. Air filter apparatus and air freshener for filtering air and
delivering an air freshener composition to a domestic air supply
comprising air filter element means for filtering air, a plurality
of sealed air freshener container means positioned for holding an
air freshener composition in said air filter element, each of said
container means having an effluent opening and an influent opening
intersected by a central axis, said central axis lying in the
direction of air flow through said air filter, said air freshener
container means having individual closure means thereon positioned
over both and removable from at least one of said influent openings
and said effluent openings for sealing said container means, said
closure means being individually removable from said container
means to allow air to contact said air freshener, said container
means being mounted on a panel lying in a plane parallel to the
plane of said air filter element means, said container means
projecting through said air filter element means, said axis of said
container means being transverse to said panel and substantially
parallel to the line of air flow through said air filter element
means, whereby the removal of said closure means individually from
said container means and from any combination of said container
means controls the quantity of delivery of said composition to a
domestic air supply system passing through said filter element and
contacting said container means having said closure means removed
therefrom.
2. The air filter and air freshener apparatus of claim 1 where said
air filter means is mounted on frame means.
3. The air filter and air freshener apparatus of claim 2 where said
panel is secured to said frame.
Description
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an air filter and air freshener
apparatus for filtering air and delivering an air freshener
composition to a domestic air supply comprising an air filter
element for filtering air, a plurality of sealed air freshener
containers positioned for holding an air freshener composition in
said air filter, the air freshener containers having individual
closures thereon for sealing the containers. The closures are
individually removable from the containers to allow air flow
therethrough. By employing the aforementioned arrangement, the
removal of the closures individually from the containers or from
any combination of the containers controls the quantity of the air
freshener composition to a domestic air supply system passing
through the filter element and the containers having the closures
removed therefrom.
In a further embodiment, each of the containers has an effluent
opening and in influent opening intersected by a central axis. The
central axis lies in a line parallel to the direction of air flow
through the air filter. The closures are positioned over the
effluent openings and the influent openings of the container.
In yet another embodiment, the closures comprise caps releasably
sealed to the containers over the effluent and influent ends
thereof to prevent the air freshener composition contained in the
containers from volatilizing or evaporating before the caps are
removed. Tabs project from the caps for pulling the caps from the
containers.
In a further embodiment, the containers are mounted on a panel
lying on a plane parallel to the plane of the air filter element.
In this embodiment, the containers project through the air filter
element, the axis of the container being transverse to the panel
and substantially parallel to the line of air flow through the air
filter element.
In a further embodiment, the filter is mounted on a frame and
additionally the panel may be secured to the frame.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 comprises a side elevation in section of a container having
an air freshener composition therein, the influent and effluent
ends of the container being sealed by closures or caps removably
secured to the influent and effluent means;
FIG. 2 comprises a plan view of an air filter and air freshener
apparatus for filtering air and delivering an air freshener
composition to a domestic air supply comprising an air filter
element and a plurality of seal air freshener containers positioned
for holding an air freshener composition in the air filter element
according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;
and
FIG. 3 comprises a partial perspective view of an air filter and
air freshener apparatus for filtering air and delivering an air
freshener composition to a domestic air supply according to yet
another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Air treatment apparatus for domestic air supply systems are
disclosed in the prior art U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,743,181 Bentley;
3,661,323 Farris; 3,211,437 Jaye; 3,190,624 McElreath; 2,786,714
Saleny; 2,502,137 Fleisher; 2,235,116 Ray and 1,718,182 Rose, et
al. Many domestic air supply systems require filtering elements in
order to minimize the amount of dust and other particulate matter
delivered by the system. The supply systems deliver air to various
parts of either homes, offices or factories which may from time to
time contain domestic odors such as cooking odors, tobacco smoke or
industrial fumes. It would be advantageous to deliver an air
freshener composition through a domestic air supply system for
effective delivery to areas that are either inhabited or in which
various tasks are preformed. Because an air freshener would not be
required in most instances on a continuous basis, it would also be
desirable to provide a device which would deliver an air freshener
in selective quantities for a selected period of time. Although
mechanical metering apparatus with automatic controls or manual
controls may be developed to the latter end, it would be desirable
to provide a simple and inexpensive device in combination with an
air filter for the selective delivery of a quantity of air
freshener composition for a selected period of time to a domestic
air supply system.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome
these and other difficulties encountered in the prior art and also
to provide apparatus to achieve these various ends.
These and other objects have been achieved and apparatus has been
developed to accomplish such ends and will become apparent from the
disclosure and claims that follow as well as the appended
drawing.
Referring to the drawing, an air filter and air freshener apparatus
10 is illustrated comprising a filter element 20 having openings 23
therein, said element 20 being packed with a fibrous material 22
for the filteration or air delivered to a domestic air supply
system. A plurality of sealed air freshener containers 12 are
positioned for holding an air freshener composition 24 in said air
filter element 20. The air freshener containers have individual
closures or caps 15 and 17 on the tops and bottoms thereof for
sealing the containers, the closures 15 and/or 17 being
individually removable from the containers 12 to allow air to flow
therethrough or pass over composition 24. This arrangement allows
for the removal of the closures 15 and/or 17 individually from the
containers 12 and from any combination of containers 12 to control
the quantity of the composition 24 delivered to a domestic air
supply system passing through the filter element 20 and those
containers 12 having the closures or caps 15 and/or 17 removed
therefrom. Each of the containers 12 is sealed with a closure or
cap 15 and 17 positioned respectively over an effluent and influent
opening in the container 12, the effluent and influent openings
being intersected by a central axis lying in the direction of air
flow through the filter 20. The closures or caps 15 dand 17 may
comprise heavy aluminum foil caps sealed by means of an adhesive to
the containers 12 or may comprise a sealed cap crimp-sealed to the
container 12. Alternately, a thermo-plastic cap, such as a
polyethylene cap 15 or 17 may be employed and heat-sealed to the
container 12 which may be made of a similar thermoplastic material
such as polyethylene in this instance. Other thermoplastic
materials such as nylon, polypropylene, cellulose acetate,
cellulose acetate butyrate and the various art-known equivalents
thereof may also be employed. Tabs 14 and similar tabs 16 may be
provided on the top and bottom of the closures or caps 15 and 17,
respectively, which may be gripped either between the fingers or by
means of a tool such as a pair of pliers or other gripping device
for pulling the closures or caps 15 and 17 away from the effluent
and influent openings of the container 12. The containers 12 are
mounted on a panel 18 lying in a plane parallel to the plane of the
filter element 20, the containers 12 projecting through the filter
20, the aforementioned central axis of the container being
transverse to the panel 18 and lying in a line substantially
parallel to the flow of air through the filter 20. In one
embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the panel. 18 is
secured to a frame 24 in which the filter element 20 containing
filtering material 22 is mounted.
The air freshener composition 24 may comprise a composition on a
fibrous wick such as a mixture of a volatile sweetly scented
material known in the art in combination with formaldehyde,
formalin or any of the art known polymers of formaldehyde.
Additionally, the composition 24 may comprise a solid air freshener
composition known in the art and the closure 17 need not be
removed, the passage of air in and around the vicinity of the
container 12 containing such a composition 24 being sufficient to
bring the air freshener composition 24 into the domestic air supply
system in which the filter element 10 is mounted when the cap 15 is
removed from container 12. Alternately, when a solid air freshener
composition 24 is employed, a channel or a plurality of channels
running the length of composition 24 and parallel to the
aforementioned central axis may be provided in the composition 24
so that the closure 17 may be removed as well as the closure 15 and
the air freshener composition distributed through the passage of
air upwardly through the container 12.
In use, the air filter and air freshener apparatus 10 is mounted in
the plenum of a forced air domestic air supply system such as a
forced air furnace or forced air air-conditioning system and as the
occasion arises, the closures 15 and/or 17 are removed from the
containers 12 depending on the need for air freshener in the
domestic air supply. As this need increases, an increasing number
of container 12 can be pressed into service by removing the caps 15
and/or 17 therefrom.
Although the invention has been described by reference to some
embodiments, it is not intended that the novel air filter and air
freshener apparatus be limited thereby but that modifications
thereof are intended to be included as falling within the broad
scope and spirit of the foregoing disclosure, the following claims
and the appended drawing.
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